Hot Topics:

Sports

Broncos sign San Diego's Shaun Phillips to replace Elvis Dumervil

The Denver Post

Posted:
04/27/2013 01:50:54 PM MDT

Updated:
04/27/2013 09:15:07 PM MDT

Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice (C) cuts back across the field through San Diego Chargers outside linebacker Shaun Phillips (L) and linebacker Demorrio Williams as he runs for a first down on a 4th down with 29 yards to go play during the fourth quarter of their NFL football game in San Diego, California November 25, 2012. (Danny Moloshok, Reuters)

At the height of their rivalry with the San Diego Chargers, The Broncos considered Shaun Phillips among the most reviled players.

Phillips, it seems, can trash talk with the best of them.

All's fair in love and trying to win the AFC West.

The Broncos signed Phillips, a pass rushing outside linebacker who had 9 ½ sacks for the Chargers last season, to a one-year contract Saturday.

Phillips, who turns 32 on May 13, visited with the Broncos at the team's Dove Valley headquarters Friday. He had 69 ½ sacks in his nine seasons with the Chargers, including 11.5 in 2006 and 11 in 2010.

The Broncos have been seeking a pass rusher since Elvis Dumervil signed with the Baltimore Ravens.

"They lost Elvis, and what was interesting to me was that they wanted somebody to help come in and try to fill that void, and to put some pressure on the quarterback, which I've been fortunate enough to do throughout my career," Phillips said.

The Bronco-Chargers' rivalry was at its height on Christmas Eve, 2007, when quarterbacks Jay Cutler, then with Denver, and San Diego's Philip Rivers exchanged not-so pleasantries during a prime-time game. Many Broncos, though, said Phillips was one of the biggest agitators in the trash-talk exchanges.

"I'm on the good side now," Phillips said. "I'm excited. It's going to be fun. I'm sure there's going to be a little trash-talking back and forth, but it's part of the game. I'm a very competitive individual."

The Chargers pretty much had the better of the rivalry until the past two seasons, when the Broncos rose up to win back-to-back AFC West titles. The Broncos swept Phillips' Chargers in the two-game series last season.

Missy Franklin, Jenny Simpson, Adeline Gray and three other Colorado women could be big players at the 2016 Rio OlympicsWhen people ask Missy Franklin for her thoughts about the Summer Olympics that will begin a year from Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, she hangs a warning label on her answer.